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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Preparing for Hysterosalpinogram

I promised in my first post to go back and explain the "procedure" I had yesterday. The long-winded term is Hysterosalpinogram...but it is better known as an HSG (probably because no one can pronounce the damned thing). A week ago I had absolutely no clue what an HSG was, nor had I ever heard the term. MSG I've heard of that, who hasn't? But when the doc told me on my initial visit that I needed to schedule an HSG with the receptionist, I was almost completely clueless as to what that meant. Don't get me wrong, he explained enough for me to understand that it was a procedure where they inject dye into the uterus to check that the uterus is in good working order and fallopian tubes are clear of any blockages or what-not. This is to insure there is nothing in the way to obstruct either the sperm or egg from traveling the pathways necessary to "hook-up" on the dance floor, if know what I mean. That's all good and fine, nothing like knowing ahead of time if there is anything that could possibly cause problems, especially considering the cost of going through IUI. Anything to make the percentages higher that your IUI will result in a pregnancy! But I have to admit when the doc said I could experience some "cramping" and to take some sort of pain killer ahead of time, I seriously began to wonder what he meant by the term "cramping."

Many, it seems, lifetimes ago I had a LEEP procedure to remove abnormal cervical cells (they turned out to be non-cancerous so yay for that!). My gyno at the time had used almost identical words regarding experiencing some "cramping" with the procedure. To this day I have yet to fully forgive her for not being a little more specific by what she meant. For any of you who have had someone take a slice out of your insides without any anesthesia while up on a table with your legs spread and your most precious parts vulnerable to the world...well let's just say there is a reason why men don't give birth! Women are known to have a much higher pain threshold than men, and it's a good thing cause the human race would have died out in one generation. So remembering back on that vague wording from so many years ago, and remembering the pain associated with that vague wording, and adding that together with the instructions that a pain killer ahead of time would be smart, I began to worry and question what exactly was an HSG and what exactly should I really be expecting!

With all that being said, like any good patient I began to scour the internet for a better explanation and to see what other women's experiences were like. I know the internet is not always the best source of information, especially when examining medical issues, but I just couldn't help myself. I'm a well-trained researcher (to a fault thanks to a remarkable education), so mistakenly I put my training to the test! A good, basic outline of the procedure was easy enough to find. Plenty of simple, cut and dry (no pun intended), no-nonsense medical knowledge available on the web. But as always, I went searching for real-world, first-hand knowledge. Needless to say, sometimes it may just be smarter keeping oneself in the dark!